Update your old iPhone

If you already erased your old iPhone or no longer have it, you can get help.

Back up and unpair your Apple Watch

Unpairing backs up your Apple Watch to your old iPhone, then erases your Apple Watch, so you can pair it with your new iPhone. You can't use your Apple Watch until you pair it again, so don't unpair until you're ready to start using your new iPhone.

To unpair your Apple Watch, open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone and tap the My Watch tab. Tap your watch at the top of the screen, tap the i icon, then tap Unpair Apple Watch. Tap again to confirm. If asked, enter your Apple ID password. Keep your Apple Watch and old iPhone close together until you finish unpairing them.

Get help

What if I transferred my content to my new iPhone using iTunes, but my Health and Activity content is missing?

To back up and restore your Health and Activity content, you need to restore your new iPhone from your previous iPhone’s backup. If you use iTunes, make sure that you encrypt your backup.

If you want to restore your missing Health and Activity content:

If you have your old iPhone and didn't erase it, make a new iCloud backup or encrypted iTunes backup. Then erase your new iPhone and restore it from the new backup. Remember to pair your Apple Watch and iPhone again.

If you don't have your old iPhone or you can't back it up, you can't recover your Health and Activity content.

What if I didn’t unpair my Apple Watch before setting up my new iPhone?

Your Apple Watch might still be paired with your old iPhone. Use the steps below to pair your devices.

If you have your old iPhone, and you didn't erase it

Unpair your Apple Watch from your old iPhone. Then choose one of these options depending on when you set up your new iPhone:

If you just restored your new iPhone from a recent backup, pair your devices. When you're asked, restore from a watch backup. Your recent Activity, Workouts, or settings content might be lost depending on how old the backup is.

If you have your old iPhone, but you erased it

You should erase your Apple Watch, then pair it with your new iPhone. If you restored your new iPhone from a backup, you can restore your watch from a backup when you pair. You might lose Activity, Workouts, or settings on your watch that changed between the last backup and now.

If you don't have your old iPhone or a backup

You should erase your Apple Watch, then pair it with your new iPhone. If you’re asked to restore from a watch backup, select the most recent backup. You will lose Activity, Workouts, or settings on your watch that changed between the last backup and now.

Without an iPhone backup, you’ll need to set up your Apple Watch as new. You will lose any previous Activity, Workouts, or settings, but your other content will sync from the new iPhone to your Apple Watch.